ZIMMER, CORREA MAY BE PICKS AT NO. 7

The closer the Padres get to Monday’s annual amateur draft, the less certain they become about the identity of their first-round choice.

“Right now, no one is certain what Houston is going to do,” Padres scouting director Jaron Madison said Friday morning as he headed into another all-day strategy session at Petco Park.

“If Houston goes a different direction, every team behind it adjusts. All we know is that we have eight players we really like. One of them will be available when we pick.”

The Padres have the seventh overall pick in the draft.

For a long time, it appeared the Padres were focused on shortstop Carlos Correa from Puerto Rico. And it appeared that Correa would fall to the seventh spot. But Correa’s stock is rising and there’s a good chance he will be one of the first six picks.

The new hot name on the Padres’ list is a San Diegan. Kyle Zimmer of the University of San Francisco, a La Jolla High grad, is considered among the top right-handed pitchers in the draft. However, the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is considered a top-five pick on most pre-draft prediction charts.

“There seems to be movement,” said Madison. “If someone rises, someone else falls a spot or two. You never know. We’d be happy with any of the top eight names on our list.”

The Padres, of course, are keeping that list secret, although they have confirmed that Correa and Zimmer are on it. Likely so are right-handed pitchers Mark Appel and Kevin Gausman and catcher Mike Zunino.

Chances are that whomever the Padres draft at No. 7, they will sign. The new rules — forged in the most recent collective bargaining agreement — set bonus restrictions and time restraints for signing drafted players.

For example, the Padres can spend no more than $9,903,100 for the 14 picks they have in the first 10 rounds of the draft. Their seventh overall pick is slotted to make $3 million — although teams are allowed to adjust the slotted amounts as long as the minimum offer is 40 percent of the slotted amount established by Major League Baseball.

“There is going to be more draft day push/pull,” said Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes. “You are going to have one call into the draft and another to the player’s rep. ‘We have a deal, yes, no.’ You have to know a lot in advance. It changes things.”

“The cap and slotting add an interesting twist to the draft,” said Madison. “Some players could rise because they will agree fast. And some higher picks might be available later to teams with money left.”

Another change in the draft is the signing deadline. It has been advanced from mid-August to mid-July. The deadline this year is July 13. Also, drafted players can no longer sign a major league contract.

As the rounds go on, teams will have to keep track of what they have against their cap.

Byrnes said that although the Padres are for sale, the draft is fully funded.